As the regular season is nearing its close, the IVCC Lady Eagles have just short of imploded on the court. Though they managed to win a road game against rival Kishwaukee, it came after an eight-game losing streak filled with turnovers and a slight decrease in almost every other notable statistical category.

The eight-game skid began after an injury to freshman forward Emily Hoscheid, which would leave her on the bench for the remainder of this season. Though the Lady Eagles were struggling before her injury, this could not have helped as it left the girls roster with only seven players.

Though that injury may have hampered the girls, the real issue has come through a slew of turnovers.  The reason these issues are notable is because not only do the Lady Eagles turn the ball over most in the Arrowhead Conference, they also have the least steals per game. This leaves them as the only team in the conference with a negative turnover ratio nearing -10 per game.
In a recent loss to conference leading Carl Sandburg, the Lady Eagles took 18 less shots than the Chargers. This may have come from their -11 turnover ratio in that game. In other losses, similar stat lines woe the Lady Eagles.

Though the Lady Eagles have had a rough conference season, it is still important to note that this team has made significant strides from last season’s squad. With a record of 12-15 (2-8) they tripled their total wins from the previous season, with one more conference win than last season as well.

In their most recent 69-67 win over Kishwaukee, the Lady Eagles posted their lowest turnover deficit  in conference play at only seven, and crushed the Cougars on the boards nabbing 56 rebounds.

An impressive 23 point, 15 rebound, and  three block performance turned in by freshman center Hannah Wolfe was complemented by the 17 points and four steals of guard Daniella Pavlovich and a 12 rebound effort by Ellie Herman.
Though the team improved in a big way this season, there is still a lot of work that would need to be done to put this team among the conference elite.

With Sophomore Night coming Feb. 18, the girls will look to send off their sophomores with one final home win against Sauk Valley.